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The Maria Confer kitchen makeover shows how thoughtful updates can brighten a small, older room. After buying a 1927 bungalow, Maria and her husband began transforming its compact kitchen, keeping the home’s character while making the space feel lighter and more inviting.
Maria Confer kitchen makeover: brightening the cabinets
When the couple closed on their first home at the end of April, the bungalow had plenty of charm, but several rooms needed attention. The kitchen was an early project: its original dark wood cupboards made the already small space feel more closed in.
Maria painted the cupboards white, a job that took about a week from start to finish. The lighter finish made the kitchen feel brighter, more open, and calmer. For a similar update, careful preparation and several thin coats can help create an even result. It is also useful to allow painted surfaces to dry fully before putting items back into cupboards.
New finishes for the floor and counters
The next change was painting the old brown-and-beige linoleum floor white. This gave the room another noticeable visual lift. Maria later added a stencil design to the floor, although she found that task especially tedious and physically demanding. A floor project like this calls for patience and planning; testing a stencil in an inconspicuous area first can help confirm the pattern and paint work well together.
Maria’s husband, Cole, took on the more labor-intensive work. He removed the Formica countertops and installed wood butcher-block counters, then replaced the outdated sink and faucet. When changing counters or plumbing fixtures, it is important to measure carefully and check that the new components are compatible with the existing layout.
Wood plank walls and a refrigerator refresh
Cole also installed wood plank walls, a project that took three weeks. Maria painted the new walls over the course of a weekend. Together, the wood surfaces added texture and warmth to the otherwise bright kitchen.
Between larger renovation tasks, Maria gave the refrigerator a makeover using faux wood contact paper. She followed an earlier DIY post by Elizabeth for the idea. Contact paper can refresh an appliance without replacing it, but measuring the surface and smoothing the material gradually can help reduce bubbles and uneven edges.
Enjoying the completed kitchen
With the main work nearly finished, Maria could appreciate the transformation. She describes pausing in the doorway to admire the kitchen—a small space that had become brighter and more personal through a mix of paint, new surfaces, and hands-on improvements.
The Maria Confer kitchen makeover is a useful example of how updates can be approached in stages: start with changes that affect the room’s overall feel, then tackle larger renovations and finishing details. For older homes, planning each task and allowing enough time for careful work can make a compact kitchen more comfortable and functional.
